Process of knitting plated fabrics



Feb 4, 1930. H. E. HoUsEMAN f 1,745,619

PROCESS I0F KNITTING PLATED FABRICS Feb. 4, 1930. E, HOUSEMAN 1,745,619

PROCESS yOF KNITTING PLATED FABRICS Filed March 15. 192s s sheets-sheet 2 mx MMM,

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Feb. 4, 1930. H.IE. HoUsEMAN 1,745,619

PROCESS OF KNITTING PLATED FABRICS Filed March 15, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented lieb. 4, 1930 lUNITED sTATr-:s

PATENT oFFrE HARODD E. HOUSEMAN, F EDGE MOOR, DELAWARE, ASSIGNOR TO STANDARD-TRIUM? BROS. MACHINE COMPANY, 0F WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, A CORPORATION OF DMA- 'WARE PROCESS 0F KNITTING PLATED FABRICS Application filed March 15, 1928. Serial No.-26)1,733.

' It is known to knit plated fabric, that is, fabric which is formed of a backing or body yarn and a facing or plating yarn, by feeding these two yarns under different tension simultaneously to the needles; the plating yarn appearing on the face of the fabric, while the body yarn is concealed. Itis also known to produce striped and 'figured effects and designs by causing certain of the needles to en- 13 gage only the body yarn and escape engagement with the lating yarn, so that only'the body yarn willlbe knitted by these needles to lform loops ,while the plating yarn will float Lacross the fabric.- It is also known to pro- 15 duce striped and figured effects and designs lby causing the two yarns knit by certain of the needles to be reversed in position so that the body yarn will appear on thel face of the fabric knit by these needles, while the plating yarn is concealed.

The two methods of producing these striped and figured effects in plated knitted fabric may be designated respectively as the floating thread method and the reverse plating method. Examples of the first method are found in patents issued to Harold E. Houseman June 7, -1927, Nos. 1,631,816 and 1,631,817. An example of the second method is disclosed and claimed in an application filed by Wilbur L. Houseman July 29, 1927, Ser. No. 209,383.

In the said patents issued to ITI. E. Houseman, those .needles (which may bercalle'd regular needles) that are not to produce the 35. striping effect are drawn down at such point in the rotation' of the needle cylinder that the 'needles will engage both threads and knit them together. Those needles (which may be called special needles) that are to produce 40 the'striping effect are drawn down at such point in advance of the vpoint at which the regular needles-are drawn down that they will engage one of the threads (c. g., the body r thread) and not the other (e. g., the plating 4 thread), thus knitting only ,the former.

In the said application filed by W. L. Houseman, pressers, rotatable with the needles, are actuated by non-rotatable cams tobend selected needles inward out of their normal knitting plane, thereby reversing the normal positions of the threads in those needles, so that the body or backing yarn will, in the wales formed by such'needles, appear on the face o f the fabric, producing a striped effect. This mechanism is hereinafter particularlyy described. Automatic pattern-controlled mechanism for actuating such cams in such manner asv to actuate needles at will and produce any desired design is known in the art;

Both of these processes are limited to the production, in plated fabric, of two-color effects, since the use of only two threads is contemplated. I The object of the present invention is to provide a process for producing plated knitted fabric having three color effects, such as stripes, or designs of various configurations that may be produced by knitting stripes of any desired length along any wales of the fabric that may be selected, each of said stripes being formed by causing any one of the three threadsto appear on thesurface while the other threads are concealed thereby or are caused to escape the needles andlfioat across the fabric.

In carrying out the new process the three threads are fed simultaneously to a circle of knitting needles. A relatively strong tension is imposed on one of the threads, say the plating thread, so that normally it will appear on the face of the fabric. A medium tension is imposed on another thread, which may be called the middle thread, so that normally it will appear inY the middle of the fabric directly under, and concealed by, the plating thread. No tension, or a relatively slight tension, is imposed on the third, or backing, thread, so that normally it will appear on the back of the fabric and be concealed by the other two threads.

yThis triple thread fabric, in and of itself, exhibits substantial advantages over the twoyarn plated fabric that is well known in the art, and regardless of any difference in the color of the three threads. Thus, it is possible to knit a fabric having a facing of silk and a backing of cotton in which the silk comprises only one third, instead of one half, of the fabric.'

In order to produce the desired striped effects, I select and combine vwith each other tension'. The m1 and with the three threads subjected to the differential tension described, the methods of operation set forth in the different patents aforesaid so as to provide a novel method adapted to secure the results sought. practice such novel method, it is preferred to use certain mechanism hereinafter de-i scribed.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a diagram of a series of needles, the yarn feed and the needle actuating cam, constituting part of the mechanism which it is preferred to use.

Figs. 2, 3 and 4 are diagrams of needles and adjacent sinkers, showing the relative positions of the three threads as they are knit into, or floated in, the fabric to bring the different threads respectively onto the face.

Fig. 5 is a diagram .of a part of Fig. 1, enlarged, showing how certain needles engage all the threads and other needles only one thread preparatory to forming the stitches.

Fig. 6 is an elevational view, mainly in section, of a part of the needle cylinder and of the means of selectively pressing back needles to produce, in the hooks thereof, the arrangement of threads shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 7 is a detail view of the upper ends of two needles, one in normal position and the other bent back.

Fig. 8 is a detail view of one of the needle pressure actuatingjacks of Fig. 6.

Figs. 9, 10, 11 and 12 are diagrams: showing the stitch cam and .needles actuated thereby; Fig. 9 also showing the means for moving the stitch cam into and out of operative position to actuate certain needles to cause them to escape engagement with certain threads as shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 13 is a face View showing a typical three-color design that may be produced in plated fabric by means of the process.

Flg. 14 is a diag-rami enlarged, of a small section 0f a plated fabric made by my process, with the three different threads on the face in different parts thereof. I

Specifically, and in orderto illustrate one of iferent Ways of carrying out my new method, let it be assumed that, in the knitting of normal plated fabric, three differently colored threads are fed simultaneously toward a common point in the circle of needles. One possible arrangement of the threads is shown in Fig. 5. The backing yarn b is under a relatively light or substantially no tension. The plating or facing arn p may be under strong (fdle yarn m may be under a medium tension. The'needles t, t follow the regular path, so that their hooks engage all the threads. In accordance with the principles governing the operation of plating, the plating thread p, being under higher tension, crosses over the middle thread m, and

the three threads are knit into the fabric in the order p, m, b, as shown in Fig. 2, so that the Tor lating thread appears on 'the face of the abrio and the backing thread appears on the back of the fabric.

In order to make the backing thread appear on the face of the fabric the hook ends of the needles are pushed back, as shown in Fig. 3 (see also Fig. 7 causing the threads to roll around and reverse the relative order in which they are fed to the needles, so that the threads knit into the fabric in the order I), p, m, as shown in Fig. 3, so that the backing thread appears on the face of the fabric and the middle yarn on the back of the fabric.

In order to make the middle thread m appear on the face of the fabric, the needles are caused to move down prematurely (see the needle uin Fig. 5) so that they engage only the middle thread m. Therefore only this thread is knit into the fabric, the other two thr'eads oating across the fabric, as shown in-Fio'. 4.

n Tau be understood that. in 0111er to make the body of the stocking in one color with stripes of two contrasting colors, it. is only necessary in' carryino out the process on a circular knitting machine in the illustrative way described) to operate certain (regular) needles in the normal Way, to set back out of the normal knitting plane other needles but operate them also in the regular way, and to operate a third set of needles prematurely so as to cause them to move down prematurely and engage only, one of the threads (in the example given, the. middle thread).

In order to produce figured effects, it is necessary (in carrying out the process on a circular knitting machine in the described- Verticallyslidable in slots of the revolv ing needle cylinder a are the needles 1, which are movable up and down in anormalknitting Wave by cams operating in the usual way. Fastened to the needle cylinder is the sinker dial c which carries the sinkers or web hold- 'ers z', which cooperate with the needles in the .usual manner to form the stitches.

' Below the sinker dial c is a slotted jack dial d, which is attached tothe sinker dial. Pressers e are placed in theneedle cylinder slots after the needles have been inserted and are held in place by the two spring bands lc.

These pressers are soy shaped that they bear against the needles at the extreme upper ends of the pressers and also at points opposite thek spring bands Ic. The needle cylinder slots are of greater than normal depth at their upper ends, forming shoulders g. The needles are unsupported above these shoulders, which act as fulcrums when needles are pushed back by the upper ends of pressers e. The jack dial ci has slots corresponding in number with the slots in the needle cylinder. At intervals and in groups in accordance with a pattern which is to be formed in the knitted fabric, jacks f are inserted in the dial slots. These jacks are held lightly in contact with their corresponding needle pressers e by a spring band n.

A threaded clamp ring h holds the jacks in their proper vertical position. The jacks are formed with slots on their rear ends so that sections may be broken out in different places leaving butts Ao, which may be in any one of eight different vertical positions. If desired, there may be two or more butts 0n a jack. The one illustrated in Fig. 8 has butts in all eight positions, whereas the one shown in Fig. 6 has a but-t in only the second highest position.

The eight cams g for operating butts o in the eight different positions do not revolve and may be moved into or out of the path of the `respective butts o of jacks f,each of'- the eight different cams being in alignment with one of the corresponding eightA butt locations on the jacks. When one or more of the eight cams g are moved and held in the path of the jacks f having butts 0 corresponding to the vertical positions of such cams, these jacks will be pushed inward and will in turn rock the corresponding pushers e, thereby springing the.l corresponding needles 1' at the fulcrum point g, causing their hookedends to be bent back out of line with the adjacent unpushed needles in the normal knitting plane.

In order to prematurely move down into knitting position selected needles, it is preferred to use the mechanism disclosed in the said Patents Nos. 1,631,816 and 1,631,817, a part of which is shown herein iny Figs. 9-12.

In Fig. 1 an arcuate group of needles t, vertically slidable in the needle cylinder, is

shown in operative relation with the three threads b, p and m, which are fed from a yarn carrier 'a (Fig. 5) that-is projected into the n' throat of the latch ring s. In thesam'e gure is shown a group of cams, which are constructed in the usual way except that the stitch cam w is specially constructed and is operable radially by being carried on a radially movable slide y (see Fig. 9),. The stitch cam is widened, at its upper forward corner, to provide a part a; overhanging the inner side of the 'cam The part w, which is in effect a supplemental cam, has acam face aligning with the regular cam face of cam w.

The needles t (see Figs. 9 and 11), which may be designated regular needles, are' of ordinary construction with the usual butts. The

needles u (see Figs. 10 and 12).,- which may be engagement of their butts with the supplemental cam a: and all the needles are operated in the same point inthe circumference of the needle cylinder, and all the needles engage all three threads b, p and m. When, however, the stitch cam is moved in, as shown in Figs. 9 and 10, the supplemental cam is in line of travel of the shoulders /v of the special needles, and the special needles will move down at a point in the circumference of the needle cylinder in advance of the point at which the regular needles are vmoved down and at such point as to engage only the thread m and escape engagement with the threads p and b, thereby causing the latter threads to float back of the knitted-in thread m, as shown in Fig. 14.

In the said Patents 1,631,816 and 1,631,817, the needles in the front half, and the needles in the'rear half, of the'machine are shown as differently constructed and the stitch cam is shown as movable into several special needles may be operated as regular needles in knitting the heel and toe. Pattern controlled mechanism adapted to actuate the stitch cam w, m, and thereby selectively prematurely depress needles for any desired number of courses isknown. Pattern controlled mechanism adapted to selectively actuate the cam g and thereby selectively bend back the hook ends of needles for any desired number of courses is known. By means of such known mechanism, or by means of other mechanism that may be devised, to control the operation of the mechanism herein described and shown, the process may be so practiced as to produce, in knitted plated hosiery, an infinite variety of three color figures and designs; but the use of any particular mechanism is unnecessary tothe execution of the present process.

In said Patent No. 1,631,817 a preferred, but more complicated, type of stitch cam is disclosed.

A- section of fabric knit in accordance with the herein describedv process is shown in Fig.

14, the drawing being made with the stitches' far looser and far more open than in the actual fabric in order to morey clearly illustrate,I

two threads floating across from the'fourth wale to the seventh wale.'

Inl an application tiled of even date herewith, Ser. No..261,734, and in an application filed April 20, 1928, Serial No. 271,428, I have set forth processes adapted to produce three yarn plated, striped and figured fabric, having features in common with the process herein described and herein broadly claimed and having other features of independent noveltyr not herein disclosed or specifically claimed.

Certain claims herein are broad enough to define processes, other than the specific process described, adapted to the production of three color fabrics other than the specific fabric lherein disclosed, examples of which other fabrics are disclosed in my said applications Ser. No.`261,734 and Ser. No. 271,428.

The fabric 'herein described forms the subject matter of van application filed Feb. 12, 1929, Ser. No. 339,826, which is a division of this application.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Pat-ent is:

1. The process of producing on a knitting machine a plated knitted fabric which comprises feedlng three threads from a subst'am tially common locus to the needles and imposing such differential tension on the threads as to cause one yarn to appear on the face of the fabric, another on the back of the fabric and the third in the center of the fabric.

2. The process of producing on a knitting machine a plated knitted fabric which comprises feeding three threads in three different paths toward the needles and imposing on the thread traversing the central path a greater tension than on the other threads.

3. The process of producing on a knitting machine a plated knitted fabric which comprises feeding three threads toward the needles, so manipulating the threads as to cause one thread to normally appear on the face of the fabric, manipulating certain needles to cause one of the other two threads to appear on the face of the fabric and manipulating certain needles to cause the third thread to appear on the face of the fabric.

4. The process of producing on a knitting machine a plated fabricwhich comprisesfeeding three threads simultaneously to the circle of needles, imposing a substantially greater tension on one thread than on the other two, imposing a substantially greater tension on one of the latter two threads than on the other. knitting on certain needles Wales of fabric in which the threads are knit into the faloric in the order corresponding to the rel-y ative tension imposed thereon, and manipulating certain needles to cause the threads to knit into the fabric in a different order.

5. The process of producing on a knitting machine a plated fabric, which comprises feeding three threads simultaneously to the needles and so manipulating the threads as to cause certain needles to knit the threads into the fabric in a certain order from face to back and displacing the hook ends of certain needles to :cause said threads to be knit ently colored threads toward the needles and so manipulating the threads'as to cause certain needles to knit the threads into the fabric vin a certain order from face to back to form normal plated fabric, manipulating certain needles to effect a change in the positioning of the threads in the fabric, andmanipulating certain needles to cause them to escape engagement with the thread that appears on the face of the fabric Ain normal plating.

7.r The process of producing on a knitting machine plated fabric of three different colors, which comprises feeding three differently colored threads toward the needles and so manipulating the threads as to cause certain needles to knit the threads. into the fabric in a certain order from face to back to form normal plated fabric, manipulating certain needles to effect a change in the posi- 4tioningy of the threads in the fabric, and

manipulating certain needles to cause them to engage the thread that appears in the middle of the fabric in normal plating and escape engagement with the other two threads.

8. The process of producing on a knitting machine a plated fabric of three different colors, which comprises feeding three differently colored threads along different paths simultaneously toward the needles under such differential tensions as to cause certain needles to knit the threads into the fabric in a certain order from face to back, displacing the hook endsof certain needles to cause said threads to be .knit into the fabric in a different order, and prematurely depressing certain needles to cause them to escape enlou lflfi gagement with the thread on which the greatest tension is imposed. j

9. The process of producing on a knitting machine a plated fabric of three different colors, which comprises feeding three differently colored threads along different paths simultaneously toward the needles under such differential tensions as to cause certain needles to knit the threads into the fabric in a certain orderfrom face to back, displacing. the hook ends of certain needles to cause said threads to be knit into the fabric in a different order, and prematurely depressing machine` a plated fabric, which comprises feeding three threads along different paths under the greatest tension.

11. The process of producing on a knitting machine a plated fabric, which comprises feeding three threads along different paths simultaneously toward the needles under such differenttension as to cause certain needles to knit the threads into the fabric in a certain order from face to back, and prematurely depressing certainneedles to cause them to escape engagement with the thread under the greatest tension and 'one of the other threads.

12, Thegprocess of producing on a knitting machine .a plated fabric, which comprises feeding three threads along diferentpaths simultaneously toward the needles and so manipulating the threads as to cause certain needles to knit the threads into the fabric in a certain order from face to back to form normal plating, and prematurely depressing certain needles to cause them toescapeengagement with one of the threads that in normal plating is exposed.

13. The process of producing on a knitting machine a plated fabric, which comprisesfeeding three threads along different paths simultaneously toward the needles and so A manipulating the threads as to cause certain needles to knit the threads into the fabric in a certain order from face to back to form normal plating, and prematurely depressing certain needles to cause them to escape engagement with the threads that appear on the face and back of the fabric in normalI plating and engage only the remaining-thread.

14. l The process of producing on a knitting machine a plated knitted fabric which comprises feeding three threads along different paths simultaneously toward the needles, imposing a substantially greatertension on the thread fed along the central path than on the other two threads 'so as to cause it to be knit, by engaging normally positioned needles, on the face ofthe fabric, imposing on the thread fed along the pathv nearest the needles a greater tension than on the thread fed along the path farthest from the needles.v

to cause the-last named threadv to beA knit by engaging normally positioned needles on the back of the fabric, displacing the hook ends of certain engaging needles to cause the last named thread to be knit by such needles on i the face of the fabric and the second named thread to be knit by such needles on the back of the fabric, and prematurely depressing certain other needles to cause them to engage the second named thread and escape engagement with the other threads.

In testimony of which invention, I have hereunto set my hand, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on this 1st day of March, 1928.

HAROLD E. HOUSEMAN. 

